The losses are mounting, the frustration is building, and the team's lack of experience is hard to ignore. However, the Penn State men's basketball team has managed to keep from completely falling apart thanks to resilience and good team chemistry.
Things were looking extremely bleak early in the second half at Wisconsin Saturday. They were down 42-25 with 16:40 left to go in the game after suffering an 85-51 blowout at the hands of Indiana last Wednesday at The Bryce Jordan Center. However, the Nittany Lions showed once again that they would go down swinging, coming within a point of the Badgers before falling 66-63.
The team's resolve has been tested with four games in which they came back from a deficit of 10 points or more to within a possession of the lead only to suffer a gut-wrenching loss. They also lost by 30 points or more to Pittsburgh and Indiana, but according to Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn, they have avoided pointing fingers and have stuck together throughout.
"I think these guys really like each other," he said. "I think the team chemistry has been good. They help each other and lift each other up and keep each other going. We have to continue to play and put ourselves in position to be successful and win. And the way you do that is to really concentrate on getting better, on keeping each other in a positive mode or mental frame of mind, and constant encouragement, not only from themselves and from me, and the rest of the staff."
Tate starts to recover
Perhaps the most important positive to come out of the Wisconsin loss was the improved play of sophomore swingman Jamaal Tate.
Tate has struggled all season with minor injuries, such as the shoulder injury that kept him out of the Ohio State game. According to Dunn, Tate has also been frustrated by an inexplicable lack of energy. It was so persistent that Dunn had Tate tested for mononucleosis, which he tested negative for.
"I looked at the tape from last year from late January, early February," Dunn said. "And what a difference between the speed and quickness than it is right now. I've never seen anything like it. He's trying, but it doesn't seem to have anything in his tank. That's really frustrating to me, and I'm sure it is to him."
Tate's hindrances were evident in games as well. Until Saturday, he hadn't made a field goal since the Michigan game Jan. 2, scoring only three points in a four-game span.
Against the Badgers, Tate seemed to gain confidence, hitting two three-pointers, finishing with six points and four rebounds on the day.
"Hopefully it's the beginning of something that's very positive for him as well for the team," Dunn said. "Hopefully he can gain some confidence from his performance on Saturday and take off from there.
Freshmen forced into limelight
When freshman center Kevin Fellows broke into the starting lineup on Wednesday against Indiana, he became the third freshman to start this season, with forwards Daren Tielsch and Jan Jagla also getting starts. The Lions have asked a lot from their freshmen with Jagla and Tielsch are each averaging more than 22 minutes per game, and are ranked first and third on the team in rebounding respectively.
The early contributions the freshmen have made give those young players and the rest of the team a positive outlook for the future.
"Everyone's done things this year that make the future look that much better," Fellows said. "We do talk a lot about what's going to happen, but we also want to make it happen now so that we don't have to go through things like this."
